Video capture output file size...

[shifty]

Ive recently captured some footage ( Length - 1 hour 24 mins ) from my digital camcorder via firewire using Nero 7 premium, when its complete the output file size is 18gb!... is this right should it not be smaller ? the capture settings are - aspect ratio 16:9, MPEG-2, 720x576(CCIR-601 D1), PAL Audio Dolby Digital (Ac-3) 5.1, is this the issue ? or am i missing something else ? If not would i use such as winavi to convert to dvd files and burn using dvd shrink to fit to dvd-r, would that even be possible from an 18gb file without very poor quality as a result ?

any help is greatly appreciated...

[paglamon]

Probably the default bitrate is very high.Try to go for Custom format.Keep all the settings as in DVD Option but change the bitrate value to something lower[remember Bitrate(kbps) x time of video(sec) = file size].

[shifty]

will do, Thanks for your help, Shifty

[shifty]

Ive gone into custom mode as suggested, and get the option for file type which i've initially selected mpeg-2 and the video and audio compressor ive used the nero recommended ones. A 2 minute clip is sill 83mb, i didnt get an option to change the bitrate. i then tried it as AVI instead of MPEG-2 with option of (no compression or default) and the file size for the same 2 mins of footage was 2.26gb. There are compression options such as ffdshow video codec i have installed and combinations of these i have found to reduce the file size but have poor playback quality. should i install a different video / audio codec pack ? any recommendations ?

[paglamon]

I think u will be better off capturing with WinDV.U will have all the options available.

[anonymez]

DV is supposed to be huge-- use winDV as suggested above

usually people encode to mpeg2 afterwards and author to dvd

[shifty]

Thanks, ive downloaded windv and read the general info on the web page, so i can now capture the footage as an avi, which im to understand will be a large file size. Once captured should i then use such as winavi to convert to mpeg (would this reduce the file size), or maybe join the split avi files together using such as virtual dub ? or am i way off the mark... Sorry to be a newbie, just wanna get it right, your help is appreciated though

[anonymez]

where do you want the video to ultimately end up? dvd? pc playback?

[shifty]

Dvd

[anonymez]

you'll want to capture with WinDV as an avi file, then encode with either tmpgenc or avi2dvd (search the forum for guides), author and burn

[shifty]

Thanks

[paglamon]

BTW Anon, what do u think of MJPEG codec?Since uncompressed AVI is often not a practicable option(due to huge file size),I have tried Picvideo MJPEG codec for compression during capture in AVI format.I was happy.What is ur experience?

[anonymez]

pagmalon, i don't use mjpeg because of the quality loss, little though it may be-- DV is around 12.5GB/hour, not much nowadays considering hdd's go for less than $1/GB

but i take it you mean analog capture, in which case mjpeg is very much suited for speed/compression

[paglamon]

Thnx Anon.U just read my mind!!!!